Extraterrestrial demons invaded; I laid the groundwork eight years in advance.

The blade of the halberd clashed with the claws of the bone-spiked wolf, sending sparks flying.

Shen Bai felt the immense force emanating from the halberd, and his tiger's mouth went slightly numb. However, he did not retreat. Instead, he used this force to rotate the halberd and thrust the spear tip at the end of the halberd back at the demon wolf's abdomen.

The Bone Spike Wolf dodged to the side, its movements far more agile than those of ordinary monsters, and a layer of dark red energy was faintly wrapped around its claws.

The demonic wolf in front of him did not rush to attack after dodging the halberd's tail. Instead, it took two steps back and stared intently at him with its eerie green eyes, as if searching for an opening.

Shen Bai felt a slight chill.

"First-tier monsters can not only use demonic energy, but also possess rudimentary intelligence."

"We can't give it a chance."

He pushed off with his foot, and his halberd swept horizontally, the blade slicing through the air as it struck the wolf's head.

The demonic wolf raised its front paws to block, and demonic energy condensed into a dark red film at the tip of its paws, blocking most of the damage. However, it was still torn open by the halberd blade, and black blood seeped out.

Shen Bai pressed his advantage relentlessly, wielding the halberd with effortless skill, executing a series of fluid and powerful moves including thrusting, slashing, sweeping, and backhand stabbing.

Although the Bone Spike Wolf could enhance its claws and teeth with demonic energy, its fighting instincts were far inferior to Shen Bai's. In less than two minutes, it had seven or eight wounds on its body, and black blood stained the ground.

In the eight years since, Shen Bai has not only used his brain.

Since he created the basic cultivation method six years ago, he reached the peak of the ninth level of the Apprentice realm in just one year. For the next five years, he focused on honing his combat skills in addition to advancing various projects, until he could make no further progress and then he temporarily suspended his cultivation.

He taught Liu Feng all his swordsmanship, and he also built Dawn's combat training system from scratch. To put it bluntly, ten Liu Fengs combined wouldn't be a match for him.

Although he hasn't broken through to the first tier yet, his apprentice-level physical foundation and combat skills have been honed to perfection, giving him the upper hand when facing this first-tier Bone Spike Demon Wolf.

"It's time to end this."

Shen Bai let out a low shout, and his battle halberd slammed down, striking the demon wolf's skull hard with a dull cracking sound.

The giant wolf howled and staggered backward. Shen Bai followed, and the tip of his halberd pierced its eye socket precisely, going straight into its brain.

The Bone-Spiked Demon Wolf howled and convulsed a few times before its massive body crashed to the ground.

  

Shen Bai drew his halberd and took a deep breath. Before he could relax, his gaze suddenly sharpened.

The fissure in the center of the mine continued to ripple, emanating an even heavier sense of oppression. At the same time, new energy also surged from the other two fissures.

The three monsters appeared from the rift almost simultaneously.

Emerging from the crack in the stockpile area was a golden-scaled demonic tiger, larger than the bone-spiky demonic wolf. Its body was covered in dark golden scales, and a faint bony protrusion on its forehead resembled an incompletely grown horn. It let out a low growl as it landed, the sound causing the surrounding gravel to tremble.

Emerging from the crack at the mine entrance was an armored demon beetle. It wasn't large, but its entire body was covered in a jet-black carapace that gleamed with a metallic sheen. It had six thick, powerful legs, and two enormous pincers protruded from its head, clearly indicating a type with extremely strong defensive capabilities.

What Shen Bai cared about most was the central rift.

A thick, scaled elephant trunk emerged from the dark red light, flicked its trunk, and stirred up a foul stench. Immediately afterward, a massive four-tusked demonic elephant squeezed out of the crevice.

It is larger than a normal elephant, covered with thick scales, and has four tusks that extend from its mouth with sharp, spear-like tips.

What's most terrifying is the concentration of demonic energy emanating from it—dark red energy surges around it, condensing and refusing to dissipate.

Real-time display of monster encyclopedia data:

【Name: Four-Tusked Elephant】

[Realm: First Tier, Third Level]

【Characteristics: Powerful, high defense, body enhanced by demonic energy, adept at using the elephant trunk for strikes】

Weaknesses: Lack of agility; relatively weak defenses around the eyes, mouth, nose, and joints.

He gripped his halberd tightly, his gaze sweeping over the three demons as he quickly made a judgment.

The Golden-Scaled Demon Tiger and the Ironclad Demon Insect were at the first level of the first tier, while the Four-Tusked Demon Elephant was at the third level of the first tier, far surpassing the former two in strength. He could deal with the Four-Tusked Demon Elephant, but Zhou Ming's team might not be able to stop two first-tier demonic creatures.

Shen Bai gave the order in his mind.

"Zhou Ming!"

"Don't engage in a direct confrontation, just keep them occupied. I'll handle the elephants."

"clear!"

Zhou Ming's voice trembled slightly, but he did not hesitate.

He and a team member charged toward the Golden Scale Demon Tiger, while the three team members in the stockpile engaged in battle with the Ironclad Demon Insects.

Shen Bai, carrying his battle halberd, strode towards the four-tusked demon elephant.

The elephant swung its trunk, sweeping across the air with a whooshing sound. Shen Bai dodged to the side, his halberd slashing towards the elephant's leg. The halberd blade struck the scales, leaving only a wound a dozen centimeters long—a negligible injury to the massive four-tusked demon elephant.

Shen Bai's heart sank.

He immediately changed his strategy, no longer trying to kill with one blow, but instead using his movement skills to move around and focus on the weaknesses indicated in the monster encyclopedia—eyes, mouth and nose, and joint gaps.

The tip of the halberd pierced the elephant's eye several times, but was deflected each time by the elephant's trunk. The elephant's trunk was incredibly powerful, and each impact made Shen Bai's arm go numb.

But Shen Bai was faster. He moved like an eel, weaving through the gaps in the four-tusked elephant's attacks. Although he couldn't hurt the giant elephant, the giant elephant couldn't hurt him either. The two remained locked in this stalemate for nearly five minutes, neither able to gain the upper hand.

On the other hand, the situation for the three team members was not optimistic.

The reserve team members were only at the fifth or sixth level of apprenticeship, and were utterly helpless against first-level monsters.

Three of the team members who were holding off the armored beetles had already been injured, and one of them almost had his left arm crushed by the giant pincers.

Shen Bai noticed the crisis over there.

He gritted his teeth, did a backflip to create distance between himself and the four-tusked golem, and then turned and charged toward the armored golem.

"You three, go help Zhou Ming!"

"I'll handle this!"

He shouted at the injured reserve players.

The three reservists hesitated for a moment, but without hesitation, they immediately turned to face the Golden Scale Demon Tiger's battlefield. Shen Bai, on the other hand, faced two first-tier demonic creatures alone.

The halberd swept across, sending the armored demon insect flying, but its carapace was only slightly dented. An elephant's trunk attacked from the side; Shen Bai parried with the halberd shaft, the immense force sending it staggering back five or six steps.

The two demons approached again, one from the left and one from the right.

Shen Bai's breathing became rapid. His stamina was being rapidly depleted, while the two demons were cooperating more and more seamlessly.

The armored beetle charged head-on, while the elephant trunk slammed down from the side and above. He dodged the armored beetle, but the elephant trunk grazed his shoulder.

If this continues, he won't be able to hold on for much longer.

Sure enough, before he could dodge, the elephant's trunk, imbued with demonic energy, struck him squarely in the chest.

Shen Bai felt a crisp "crack" from his sternum, and the intense pain instantly spread throughout his body—he had broken at least two ribs.

He groaned, and a trickle of blood escaped from the corner of his mouth.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the armored beetle pounced, its sharp blades slashing at his left leg. A gash was torn open on the outside of Shen Bai's calf, and blood instantly soaked through his combat uniform.

He stepped back a few paces, bracing himself on the ground with his halberd. The sharp pain in his chest made him twitch his eyebrow.

The two demons gave him no chance to catch his breath and closed in again.

Shen Bai raised his head, the light in his eyes not diminishing, but becoming even sharper.

A soft cracking sound echoed in my mind.